Former DongA Bank general director Tran Phuong Binh (L) appears at his first-instance trial as part of the initial phase of a serious corruption case at the bank, held on November 28, 2018

On Wednesday, the Supreme People’s Procuracy issued an indictment charging the 61-year-old Binh and 11 other individuals as part of a broader probe into a high-profile corruption case at the HCMC-based bank.

The 11 individuals were indicted for infringing regulations on banking operations and other related activities.

The indictment stated that as the general director, vice board chairman and chairman of the credit council at the bank between 2007 and 2013, Binh had instructed his staff to perform unlawful acts, leading to losses worth VND8.827 trillion (US$382 million) in total. Binh is currently serving a life imprisonment terms for other violations in previous court rulings.

The accused were accountable for violations involving loans to four groups of major corporate clients: Hiep Phu Gia, Tan Van Hung, Dong Tien and M&C, which may have received concessional interest rates from the bank, in violation of prevailing rules.

Binh, who was in dire need of money to fund his personal activities and pay back interest from his loans, asked other individuals to apply for loans at the bank and then directed his staff to falsify the relevant documents. Consequently, he was found to have misappropriated more than VND75 billion (US3 million).

In December 2018, the ex-banker was handed down a prison term of 20 years for serious economic mismanagement and a life sentence for abusing his power to misappropriate assets, resulting in a combined punishment of life imprisonment.

In the first phase of the case, Binh, former real estate mogul Phan Van Anh Vu and 24 other individuals led the bank to incur losses of over VND3.6 trillion (US$150 million). The 44-year-old Vu was given 25 years behind bars during this phase.SGT